Friday, September 30, 2016

One of
my favorite places for a romantic vacation is Lake George, N.Y. My family used
to vacation there every summer when I was growing up, and my husband and I have
continued the tradition. Which is why I’ve set the first Love at Lake George
Novel, A Taming Season, right there!

Before she can move on, help other women, Zoe needs to heal
herself. Her Cinderella life shattered three years ago one fateful night,
leaving her a young widow, scarred inside and out. In an attempt to reclaim her
life, bury her demons, and save her job, Zoe sets out for picturesque Lake
George to claim the treasured family cottage she recently inherited. The place
where she found happiness—before. Reboot, restore to an earlier time.

What she finds is a rundown shack.

The neighboring resort mogul, Jason Rolland, whisks in to her
rescue, insisting Zoe stay at his upscale Lakeview Lodge. The wealthy,
handsome, star of his own radio show, Jason's Lair, he's a terminal bachelor.
But Jason figures he might use the gifts God gave him to convince the sexy redheaded
stranger to give up the crumbling eye-sore next door. A challenge he’s
definitely up for. He’s been trying to buy the cabin—and demolish it—for years:
the last reminder of his own tragic, childhood memories.

Zoe can’t deny her attraction to the tall, dark-haired Jason
with his pool-water blue eyes. Definitely fling material—if she can just get
past those flashbacks from the night everything changed. And the knowledge that
when it comes to happy-ever-after, you usually don’t get a second chance. Hardly
possible with the Tiger of Jason’s Lair.

What Jason doesn’t figure on is Zoe’s charms melting his
emotional armor. But with his reputation, can he ever win her heart? Can a
tiger really change his stripes? Or will their pasts come back to bite them
both?

Excerpts

Even
from twenty feet away, Jason caught the flare of anger in Zoe’s eyes.

“So
you took her right of way and forced her out. Leaving her—and now me—with a
worthless piece of land.”

He
tipped back his head and squinted, studying her.

Not
such a soft, vulnerable little thing after all. This one has a streak of
wildcat, though quite ingeniously disguised.

“It’s
not exactly worthless.” He spat the four words out, one at a time. “And I
didn’t take Delia’s right of way, Ms. Anderson. I purchased it, fair and
legal.”

Zoe
stalked back, stopping inches away and glaring up at him. She folded her arms
across her chest. The action pushed her freckled cleavage into view.

He
couldn’t help it. He was a man, after all. His eyes sometimes had a mind all
their own. They strayed down toward those luscious looking, speckled mounds. He
also couldn’t help the corner of his mouth twitching, just once.

Yup.
Spotted mountain wildcat.

She
caught him. When he lifted his gaze, her gold-flecked, green eyes had darkened
to flint. She made a dangerous, guttural sound as her fisted hands dropped to
her sides.

“My
attorney,” she said, stomping past him, “will be the one to determine exactly
how fair and legal.”

Author Bio:

Claire writes emotional romance. Her heroes are hot, her
heroines strong and brave: a combination lighting the spark to fan the flames
of your most intense romantic fantasies. Claire's characters are human—they
make mistakes, get clumsy sometimes, and they're not too proud to laugh at
themselves and each other.

She writes in contemporary and paranormal romance, as well as
women’s fiction. Claire's books are like a thrill ride at a theme park. Whether
it's spooky-scary, angst-ridden relationships filled with gut-wrenching
turmoil, silly chuckle moments, or face-fanning sex, Claire guarantees to take
you on an emotionally intense romantic journey.

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Kalia
Beck always dreamed of starting a family, living in a house with a white picket
fence, and finding her soul mate. Just not in that order. Kalia is coping with
an unplanned pregnancy when she learns the father has passed away. She soon
finds out that single parenthood isn’t easy, especially when the only thing
that soothes the baby is the guitar-playing of a reluctant and reclusive
next-door neighbor.

Mack
Challen, lead guitarist in a rock and roll band, knows it takes a village to
raise a child. He just doesn't think there's a village big enough to help “gay
momma” and her screaming baby.

Kalia
and Mack aren't looking for love and aren't ready for each other, but when the
future unfolds, it’s … Perfectly Unpredictable.

Linda
O’Connor started writing a few years ago when she needed a creative outlet
other than subtly rearranging the displays at HomeSense. It turns out she loves
writing romantic comedies and has a few more stories to tell. When not writing,
she’s a physician at an Urgent Care Clinic (well, even when she is writing
she’s a physician, and it shows up in her stories :D ). She hangs out at www.lindaoconnor.net.

#RomanticTravel Idea – I visited Nice, France and
thought it was very romantic. Blue skies, beautiful beaches, palm trees swaying
in a warm breeze, and stunning landscape. Just gorgeous and very romantic.

Perfectly Unpredictable Excerpt

Kalia
pounded on her neighbor’s front door with her free hand. The other cradled a
screaming Mani. In the last fifteen days, except for the past three, the
neighbor had played his guitar from six until eight every night. And soothed
Mani. It was the only thing that worked to calm the colic. No amount of
rocking, walking, or singing worked to soothe the baby like fifteen minutes of
guitar music. It was faintly amazing and fairly irritating that Kalia had to
depend on the neighbor’s guitar playing.

He
was home. She knew he was home. There was a new car in the driveway, and she
could hear voices. So why wasn’t he answering the door? She pounded again.

The
door swung open, and Kalia yelped at the suddenness of it. Mani screamed
louder.

Mack
frowned at them. “What?” he asked tersely.

Kalia
groaned inwardly. It was the first time she had seen the neighbor close up. Six
foot two, short dark hair with a sexy scruff, broad shoulders in a dark
T-shirt, slim hips covered in worn sexy jeans, bare feet, and angry green eyes.
Great. Just what she needed. A pissed-off lifeline. “Hi. I live next door. I
need you to play guitar,” she said in a rush above Mani’s wailing.

“What?”
His eyebrows winged up, and he put his hands on his hips.

“Why
aren’t you playing guitar? You play guitar every night at this time.”

He
shook his head. “I have company.”

“Well,
you’re very good at guitar. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind listening to it for a
few minutes.” Mani screamed louder. Desperate, Kalia strode in, noting that the
layout to his home was the same as hers. Getting a fleeting impression of dark
colors and sparse furniture, she moved past him into the living room. “Hello,”
she said to the gorgeous brunette curled up on the dark leather sofa. “Would
you mind very much if . . . he,” she gestured vaguely, realizing that she
wasn’t sure of his name, “played guitar for a few minutes? Just a few minutes.
It won’t take long.”

Mack
followed her in. “Renee, this is my neighbor, half of the gay couple that lives
next door, and her screaming baby,” he said wryly.

Kalia’s
eyebrows shot up. “Yup, that’s me. The lesbian from next door,” she said with
some chagrin. Is that what the neighborhood thought? She was living under a rock. “And we just need a little guitar music if
you don’t mind.” She spied two guitars leaning on stands across the room and
waved in their direction. “Whichever works.” Time’s a wastin’.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Blurb:Civil engineer Kim Meyers has built a solid
career on establishing order in the midst of construction chaos. Living off the
coast of Georgia as a Midwest transplant, she’s made a life for herself amidst
the waves, tourists, and palm trees of the Golden Isles. Keeping her focus on
her work and her community, she hasn’t had time to stop and consider how much
she’s already lost. Until her former flame, Landon Beau IV, swoops in and
snatches up her next project.

Excerpt: Clack clack clack, the head
council member’s gavel slapped against the folding table bringing order back to
the room. The hum of murmured conversations shared between the locals dimmed.
Planning commissions meetings had grown into increasingly crowded affairs as
development of St. Simons Island exploded.

Suddenly, a
familiar set of aqua eyes caught her attention.

What on earth was he doing here?

A spark
electrified her, shooting down her back and through her limbs. No one could
instantly make her crackle with awareness like Landon Beau could. For some
reason the sizzle had lasted for more than ten years.

Kim didn’t know
if she wanted to laugh or scream or cry.

But today she
couldn’t let him distract her from her mission. She understood what she had to
do. She needed to help the Society of Coastal Living, aka SCL, to save the
stretch of land on the north end of the island near her grandmother’s house.
She wouldn’t rest until the island had no more room for development.

Control. Order. Efficiency.

She had to stay
focused.

The council
member cleared his throat to address the crowded room. “We will be moving
forward with LB Holdings, granting a preliminary rezoning permit for a
subdivision. They have proposed a development that meets all the necessary specifications
and requirements, and this committee feels will be a benefit to the island.”

Her chest seized
as the words reached her. She had failed. An even worse, she’d let down her
Grandma Rose.

Her vision
blurred. She didn’t see the council members conclude the meeting or her fellow
volunteers from the SCL get up and leave. The scrape of metal folding chairs
being dragged against the floor echoed in her ears drowning out all other
sounds.

LB Holdings would
be tearing apart the land just down the street from Grandma Rose. Her quality
of life would be destroyed. The rumble of trucks and crash of machinery would
become a constant soundtrack for the next year on Grandma Rose’s wraparound
porch, blocking out the sounds of the marsh. And the reward at the end would be
a congested nightmare to get to and from her grandmother’s home. How could she
have let her best friend down?

Why hadn’t she
pushed harder? Why hadn’t she gone door to door to get support? Why hadn’t she
done more?

Questions and
regrets circled in her mind, keeping her gaze hazy and unfocused until a warm
palm on her shoulder suddenly made her flinch. She jerked her hands up to a
defensive position, palms out in front of her face, and then froze.

Standing before her, he was impossibly handsome with his
chiseled features and sandy blonde hair styled without a strand out of place.
His piercing blue eyes locked onto hers. She opened her mouth but nothing came
out. Her gaze drifted to his lips, transfixed by the easy smile that made his
mouth off-center.

Rachelle stumbled into the world of romance
novels in college; as a way to help speed up reading through Art History
textbooks. After years in the professional world writing dry grant proposals
and auction descriptions, she started writing the contemporary romance stories
she wanted to read. Setting her books in some of her favorite destinations was
her inspired way to require plenty of research trips every year with her
family.

Fall #RomanticTravel:
I love Georgia’s Golden Isles, the
setting for this book series. Jekyll Island is an especially romantic place
with beautiful stretches of sandy beach begging for a lover’s stroll, bike
paths galore perfect for bicycles built for two, and lodging at the Jekyll
Island Club built by the millionaires of the Victorian Era.

Love this Rachelle, I uses to live in Georgia. Loved it there.
Thanks for sharing,

Monday, September 26, 2016

First female to hold an office. A business tycoon (with good hair).
It’s political intrigue with a comedic twist in my novella The Lady Is a Mayor. A young woman unexpectedly becomes the acting
mayor of a small, quirky Florida town when the elected mayor disappears after
emptying the town’s bank account. When a handsome northerner arrives with plans
to build a hotel, the town’s business owners are for the idea, but the nature
lovers are opposed.My Lady Mayor has to
find a way to bring both sides together, save the town, and follow her heart.

Excerpt:

“I’d
like to thank the Nobel Committee for this award.”

Geneva
Price’s acceptance speech for the Peace Prize was interrupted by the shrill of
the telephone. Her dreams of Scandinavians bearing gifts were shattered.

With
one hand, she reached for the switch on the lamp at her bedside. With the
other, she gathered a tangle of brunette curls away from her face. Squinting,
she located the face of her alarm clock. Two seventeen.

“Hello,”
she croaked into the receiver.

“Sorry
to wake you, Geneva, but we…no, make that you’ve got a problem.”

The
voice on the other end belonged to Sheriff Clyde Biggs.

Geneva
sat up abruptly, her heartbeat going into overdrive.

“What
is it, Clyde? Did something happen to Mom and Dad?”

“Shoot,
no. Nothing like that. Didn’t mean to get you all riled up.”

Geneva’s
heartbeat slowed but not by much.

“It’s
Mayor Cramer,” Clyde explained. “He’s gone.”

“Gone?
Good heavens, did he have a heart attack?”

“Not
gone, dead. Gone, missing. Mary Sue Jeffers saw him loading up his car and
called me. You know what a snoop she is.”

Geneva
knew.

”I
didn’t think nothing of it. Not until I saw him hightailing it onto the
interstate just now with no headlights on.”

“Maybe
he just forgot to turn them on.”

“That’s
what I thought at first. I followed him and tried to signal him. He caught
sight of me behind him and took off like a bat out of H, E, double toothpicks.”

“There’s
got to be a perfectly logical explanation.”

“If
there’s an explanation, it’s a doozy. I rode by his house, and the back door
was open. That’s how anxious he was to make tracks. I locked up to keep Mary
Sue out.”

A
sharp pain shot through Geneva’s right eye.

“It’ll
be all over town before noon tomorrow.”

“You
know it. As president of the town council, I’m afraid it’s up to you to figure
it out.”

Geneva
sighed and ran her hand through her hair.

“Right.
I guess I’ll start calling the others as soon as I get a cup of coffee in me.
Thanks for the heads up, Clyde.”

I am a native of Pittsburgh now living in a town in Florida not unlike
the one I write about. A couple years as the editor of the local newspaper gave
me plenty of material to work with. My favorite pastime is singing with a
symphonic choral group. I also enjoy watching Dancing with the Stars and
Project Runway.

When I’m not writing, I’m often singing. My chorus went on tour in
Europe some years back, and my husband went along as a “groupie.” We were able
to spend one night in Paris. For romance, you really cannot beat taking a stroll
to view the lighted Eiffel Tower at night. We followed up with a nightcap at a
sidewalk café. I’d go back in a heartbeat.

Friday, September 23, 2016

Finbar Donahue, former Army Ranger, walked
on the wild side in Iraq, but now he lives in the shadows. After his evasive partner,
Les, was shot in a random drive-by, Finn discovers cash is siphoned monthly. He
fights to keep his investment company afloat. When the late partner’s
girlfriend, Amy Kintyre, applies for his bookkeeping job, Finn suspects she
knows about his company drain and hires her.

Amy needs a nine-to-five with free evenings
and weekends to get her fashion design business back on track. She unearths
Les’ s secret bank account and alerts Finn. Freezing of the money laundering
account sets off havoc within an Irish gang. Amy witnesses a gang fight between
a brutal ISIS fundraising organization and the Irish. Desperate to escape a
stalker’s crosshairs, she seeks refuge with Finn. As danger heats up, sparks
fly hotter.

Chapter One from Deadly Alliance

“You know I love your sportswear designs, right?”

“I’m glad you do.” Amy Kintyre sat opposite a buyer, none
other than Kira Radner, at a coffee shop in Lake Arrowhead, California. This
sudden opportunity to re-launch her sportswear designs gave rise to the
jitters, and Amy clutched her hands under the table.

Kira pressed her face forward, Amy’s sketches drawn on
figures in action poses. With the portfolio spread between them, she flipped it
sideways to examine the fabric swatches stapled along the sidebar. Their earthy
tones blended with the marred wooden table.

Amy stilled the chatty urge.

“You know your presentation is in two weeks.” Kira was
giving her the green light with Recreational Sportswear, Incorporated.

“I appreciate this, Kira.” To get her business back on track,
she needed blocks of time to sew mockups. Amy inhaled the spicy aroma of the
raw cedar wood. The under-construction décor of wide, timber planks on the
walls made her think of her new self.
Crazy how thirty felt like seventeen when embracing life and freeing her
artistic side.

“Got it.” Fear over the tight time frame tasted sour in
her throat, but this break called like no other.

Kira leaned forward. “Impressive functionality with the
shorts. Who would have thought this pocket holds a Swiss Army Knife!” The
buyer’s fingertips traced the pick-stitch hem, made with thread matching the
fabric, appearing invisible. “Nice detail.”

Amy’s only mock-up kept their face-to-face meeting
running like the hum of the fluorescent lights above.

“Oooo,” Kira said and raised both her eyebrows. “Classic
nostalgia with a twist. A pocket knife for hikers!”

“Useful, I think.” The bright light flickered over
associates who’d worked together in the past, but Amy didn’t share the
difficulty of making the deadline. Her breathing shortened, and panic carved a
hole in her chest.

“Gotta bounce,” Kira said. “Get to work.”

“I will.” She pulled out a notebook and jotted down a
to-do list ending with the file with various size patterns. After a half-hour of
regrouping and rethinking, she stopped tapping her pen. Kira Radner took a
chance on her, but to turn this chance into a reality, she needed evenings and
weekends to make the deadline.

Last Sunday while pouring over Craigslist classifieds,
she’d zeroed in on Finbar Donahue’s bookkeeping ad. After her inquiry, his head
accountant sent her a message. She still favored the toe she stubbed after her
in-box pinged.

Thanks to what happened, the call from Kira, she needed
Finn’s job. Her mind raced to her third interview for his nine-to-five.
Tomorrow morning, if all went well, she’d land the regular-hours job, tailor
made for her time frame. She ran a hand through her hair, picturing the
arrogant know-it-all with a never-ending string of women hanging on his arm.

Handsome wasn’t the word to describe Finn, her late,
ex-boyfriend’s partner. She’d been around Finbar Donahue enough to know he
looked at his world as if he were the Almighty himself. The former Army Ranger
made her way too nervous. She tensed up to such an extent, her voice broke.

Romance wasn’t part of this equation. Her dream to launch
herself, stitch by stitch, came down to landing the job. On a mission, her goal
was simple. She closed her eyes and prayed tomorrow she’d nail it.

How about romantic travel to Lake Arrowhead, California,
where Deadly Alliance takes place? Fall colors mix with evergreens around this
pristine mountain lake. Bring a picnic basket and rent a pontoon!

Book Buyers Best finalist Kathleen Rowland is devoted to
giving her readers fast-paced, high-stakes suspense with a sizzling love story
sure to melt their hearts. Lily’s Pad and the Intervenus Series: A Brand New Address and Betrayal at Crater’s Edge are
sweet. Deadly Alliance and her work-in-progress, Unholy Alliance, are contracted with Tirgearr Publishing and
written for adults.

Kathleen used to write computer programs but now writes
novels. She grew up in Iowa where she
caught lightning bugs, ran barefoot, and raced her sailboat on Lake
Okoboji. Now she wears flip-flops and
sails with her husband, Gerry, on Newport Harbor but wishes there were
lightning bugs in California.

Kathleen exists happily with her witty CPA husband,
Gerry, in their 70’s poolside retreat in Southern California where she adores
time spent with visiting grandchildren, dogs, one bunny, and noisy
neighbors. While proud of their five
children who’ve flown the coop, she appreciates the luxury of time to
write.

Thursday, September 22, 2016

When I started my Executive Wives' Club Series, I looked in my own back yard for my setting.

At the time, I was living in Nebraska and was enjoying the unique surroundings.

I liked the beautiful evergreens and had bought a blue spruce for my front yard. Then the first snow came and I could see how one had to fight the elements.

In Marketing Exec's Widow, Jen has to deal with ice on her driveway and ends up falling. Luckily, I didn't take any falls but I could see how this could happen. Also, Jen's dog was a joy to write because he reminded me of my dog.

﻿

Peach didn't particular like having to do her business in the snow.

Also, I liked the scenery and tried to work it into my books.

I guess all writer's do this. Though I have to say that even though I don't live in Nebraska anymore, I still enjoy writing about the places I visited there.

The last book is coming along nicely...The CEO's Widow. Marianne is facing some challenges but with help from the other executive wives, she'll find the strength to go on.

I especially liked the wineries --- I have visited a few in California too.

Tuesday, September 20, 2016

A legendary treasure
hunt in the dramatic – and deadly – New Mexico desert....

The lost Victorio Peak treasure is the stuff of legends – a
heretic Spanish priest’s gold mine, made richer by the spoils of bandits and an
Apache raider.

When Erin, a shy history professor, uncovers a clue that may
pinpoint the lost treasure cave, she prepares for adventure. But when a hit and
run driver nearly kills her, she realizes she’s not the only one after the
treasure. And is Drew, the handsome helicopter pilot who found her bleeding in
a ditch, really a hero, or one of the enemy?

Erin
isn’t sure she can trust Drew with her heart, but she’ll need his help to track
down the treasure. She heads into the New Mexico wilderness with her brainy
best friend Camie and a feisty orange cat. The wilderness holds its own
dangers, from wild animals to sudden storms. Plus, the sinister men hunting
Erin are determined to follow her all the way to the treasure, no matter where
the twisted trail leads. Erin won’t give up an important historical find
without a fight, but is she ready to risk her life—and her heart?

“The story has it all—action, romance, danger, intrigue,
lost treasure, not to mention a sizzling relationship....”

“The
action never stopped .... It was adventure and romance at its best.”

“I
couldn’t put this book down. You’ll love it.”

Fans of Mary Stewart, Barbara Michaels, and Terry Odell will
enjoy these stories of love in the wild, from a New Mexico Book Award-winning
author.

The Mad Monk’s
Treasure is the first Southwest Treasure Hunters book, followed by The Dead Man’s Treasure. Each novel
stands alone and is complete, with no cliffhangers. This contemporaryromantic suspense
series mixes action and adventure with sweet romance.

Excerpt

Erin could hardly
believe what she was seeing. Could this be it? After all this time waiting,
searching, had she finally, finally, found what she was looking for?

She forced herself
to sit back and take a deep breath. Don’t make assumptions. Don’t rush into
things. She wanted to leap up and scream her excitement, but years of academic
training held. Slow down, double-check everything, and make sure you are right!

She leaned forward
and ran her fingers over the grainy photograph. With that one image, everything
seemed to fall into place. This was the clue. It had to be.

She fumbled in her
desk drawer for a magnifying glass and studied the symbols in the photo more
closely. At a glance, they looked like your standard Indian petroglyphs. You
could find them throughout the Southwest, tucked away in caves or scattered
among boulder fields.

But this was
different.

If she was right—and
she had to be right—these symbols were a map. A map that could lead her to one
of the greatest caches of buried treasure ever.

She reached for the
phone. In a few seconds a voice said, “Yeah.” Erin could hear the sound of some
tool on metal in the background.

“Camie? I found it!”

Kris Bock writes novels of suspense and romance with outdoor
adventures and Southwestern landscapes. In The
Dead Man’s Treasure, estranged relatives compete to reach a buried treasure
by following a series of complex clues. In The
Skeleton Canyon Treasure, sparks fly when reader favorites Camie and Tiger
help a mysterious man track down his missing uncle. Whispers in the Dark features archaeology and intrigue among
ancient Southwest ruins. What We Found
is a mystery with strong romantic elements about a young woman who finds a
murder victim in the woods. In Counterfeits,
stolen Rembrandt paintings bring danger to a small New Mexico town.

My husband and I always spend our anniversary weekend in
Truth or Consequences, New Mexico. Although T or C is small, it has several
good restaurants and many spa services. We like to stay at the Fire Water Lodge, where each room has
its own tub fed by geothermal hot mineral water. Each room is different, and
you can see the specifics for each room on their website. Fire Water is one of
the more funky/less expensive lodges. You can also find high-end luxury
lodging.

There’s not a ton to do in T or C – which is part of what makes
it relaxing. You can wander the small town and poke around used bookstores and
art galleries. Nearby Elephant Butte provides three short hiking trails as well
as a ten-mile trail along the lake, if you’re feeling ambitious. You can also
sit on the beach, fly a kite, watch birds, or fish. At night, be sure to look
up at the sky – we prefer to do this from our Jacuzzi tub – at a dark sky
filled with stars.

For more Southwest travel, visit my Southwest Armchair
Traveler blog. Check out the Labels for posts on different parts of the state.

But, no matter what you decide, or where you go, romance is
in the heart.

Author bio: Award-winning author,
Pamela S. Thibodeaux is the Co-Founder and a lifetime member of Bayou Writers
Group in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Multi-published in romantic fiction as well
as creative non-fiction, her writing has been tagged as, “Inspirational with
an Edge!” ™ and reviewed as “steamier
and grittier than the typical Christian novel without decreasing the message.”

Blurb: A visionary is someone who sees into the future Taylor
Forrestier sees into the past but only as it pertains to her work. Hailed by
her peers as “a visionary with an instinct for beauty and an eye for the
unique” Taylor is undoubtedly a brilliant architect and gifted
designer. But she and twin brother Trevor, share more than a successful
business. The two share a childhood wrought with lies and deceit and the kind
of abuse that’s disturbingly prevalent in today’s society.Can the love of God and the awesome healing
power of His grace and mercy free the twins from their past and open their
hearts to the good plan and the future He has for their lives?

Excerpt: “Thank you for taking such good care of me.”

“I’m not through yet,” he mumbled,
then slid off the couch and swung her up in his arms.

Fear snuck in, darkening her eyes.
She stiffened and opened her mouth to protest. He brushed his lips over hers
and silenced her objections.

“I just want to hold you,” he
whispered and laid his forehead against hers. “That’s all. I promise,” he
added, unable to camouflage the need in his voice.

***

He’d offered her another step to
relinquish her fear and trust him. Triumph lit his expressive eyes when she
wrapped her arm around his neck, smiled, and whispered, “Okay,” then snuggled
her face against his shoulder and let him carry her to the bedroom.

With exquisite tenderness, he laid
her on the bed, crawled up beside her, and took her in his arms. Taylor felt
the strength of his need in the heat and tensed against the hardness of his
body. He eased his grip and propped up on one elbow beside her. His eyes
pleaded for grace when he stroked the hair off her face and said in a soft,
husky voice, “Please don’t be afraid of me; please trust me. I will never force
or even persuade you to give more than you’re ready to.”

They gazed at each other for a long,
tender moment. She cupped his cheek in her hand, brushed her thumb over his
mouth, then curled her fingers in his hair and urged his head down to fasten
her lips to his. A low moan escaped his throat, yet he held himself taut.

Taylor ran her hand over his
shoulder and back in a soft caress then wrapped her arms around his waist.
“Hold me, Alex, I trust you.”

The emotions reflected in his tone
caressed her heart when he thanked her in that beautiful velvety-rough voice.
He rolled onto his back, pulled the covers over her, and held her while she
slept.